Chapter 034: Crow Night Cry (Part 3)
"good."
Han Qing stood up, with his hands on the table, "Miss Ni, please don't forget what you said to me today. I don't like to give up halfway. I'm afraid that if I'm doing the work in the front and you get scared in the back, that's not good."
Ni Su originally thought that Han Qing was unwilling to continue handling the case after weighing the pros and cons, but she didn't expect that his words were just a test of her.
Walking out of the Night Palace, the fog outside was much thinner. Under the sunlight, Ni Su felt a little dazed.
"Miss Ni, you don't know their methods yet. Envoy Han is worried that you can't resist coercion and inducement." Wu Jikang is the son of the Grand Tutor and the brother-in-law of the official, while Ni Su is an orphan. How can she resist the powerful?
If she is not resolute, the case will have to be hastily concluded. Han Qing, as the Night Sergeant, will not only offend Grand Tutor Wu, but will also be unable to bring his son Wu Jikang to justice. I am afraid he will not be able to deal with it in front of the government.
"I have wronged Han Shizun."
Ni Su lowered her eyes, "But I am alone now, and there is nothing to be afraid of. Han Shizun is still willing to handle my brother's case, which is more important than anything else."
"Master Xiao Zhou, please stay. I can go back by myself."
After bowing to Zhou Ting, Ni Su turned and walked towards the crowd.
She walked very fast. Zhou stood still, watching her back disappear into the crowd of passers-by. Chao Yisong approached and said, "Master Zhou, why didn't you send her off when they asked you not to?"
Zhou Ting glanced at him, put one hand on the hilt of the knife, turned around silently and walked back to the Night Watch.
The person who instigated the medicine lady Yang to give Azhou's mother an overdose of Chuanwu and asked Azhou to frame Ni Su, and then hired someone to kill the medicine lady Yang, was the servant of Wu Jikang, the son of Grand Tutor Wu. The matter was already a foregone conclusion. Relying on the official order, the Night Watchman's envoy Han Qing sent a personal official of the Night Watchman to the Grand Tutor Wu's mansion that day to take Wu Jikang and his servant back to the Night Watchman for questioning.
When this incident happened, there was an uproar in the court.
Grand Tutor Wu had few children. Apart from Concubine Wu in the palace, he only had Wu Jikang, a son born in his old age. Wu Jikang was indeed among those taking the winter test this time.
Wu Jikang had been in the Night Palace for five days. Grand Tutor Wu dragged his sick body into the palace every day, but not only did he not see the emperor, he also fainted while kneeling at the Yongding Gate.
On the sixth day, Han Qing delivered the confession written by Wu Jikang to the emperor's desk, but the emperor did not make any statement. Instead, he ordered the civil servants from the Censorate and the Hanlin Academy to gather together to discuss Wu Jikang's crimes.
"Mr. Meng, those old guys are about to tear down the roof of the Golden Palace, why don't you say a word? The emperor looked at you several times, but you still pretended not to see it."
Pei Zhiyuan, the secretary of the Central Secretariat, returned to the back hall of the Council of State Affairs and drank a large bowl of tea.
"It's too early."
Meng Yunxian sat back in the folding chair and asked, "Did you see them quarreling?"
"Not yet."
Pei Zhiyuan sat down next to him.
"That's it." Meng Yunxian took a sip of tea slowly. "They didn't quarrel, it's just that the fire wasn't burning strong enough."
"What do you mean?" Pei Zhiyuan laughed.
Meng Yunxian was calm and composed. "Right now, they are just fussing over Ni Qinglan's case. They don't know whether Wu Jikang should be convicted or not, and how to convict him. As long as the case itself remains unsolved, we should not worry about it. Let Censor Jiang and the others worry about it."
…
When Ni Su learned that Wu Jikang had confessed his guilt, she was visiting Cai Chunxu and his wife in the residence of General Miao. Miao Yiyang had been to the Night Palace again and fell ill from fright when he came out.
"Then Wu Jikang is a lunatic."
Miao Yiyang wrapped himself in a quilt, leaning against Cai Chunxu like a cat. "I saw him when I went out that day, Miss Ni. He was still laughing, as if nothing had happened. His laugh was so ugly..."
"Sister Axi, please stop listening to his nonsense."
Cai Chunxu looked at Ni Su worriedly.
Ni Su paused holding the pen, then said, "This prescription is my father's secret recipe. Second Young Master, take a bowl of it at night, and you should no longer have nightmares and convulsions at night."
"Hurry up and get someone to get the medicine."
When Wang heard Ni Su's explanation, she remembered that the doctor she had found last time also said the prescription for this girl was good. She felt a little embarrassed and hurriedly called a maid to get the medicine.
General Miao was not in the mansion. It was said that he was angry with Du Cong. General Miao thought that Du Cong helped him rescue the people because he was grateful that he had served as a captain in his Huning Army. However, he didn't know that Du Cong was simply using his son Miao Yiyang to cover up his guilt.
General Miao was so angry that he reported the matter to the emperor and personally led his troops to search for Du Cong's whereabouts.
"Sister Ah Xi, why don't you stay in our house for a while? I heard there are rumors on Nanhuai Street. Those neighbors are very mean to you..."
Cai Chunxu held Ni Su's arm affectionately, seeming to want to say something but stopping himself.
"The clinic has been closed these days, so even if they want to find an excuse to cause trouble, they won't have the chance. Besides, the personal officers of the Night Bureau are here, so I have nothing to be afraid of."
The story of Azhou's mother was dug up by some people and spread on Nanhuai Street in the past two days. Although the Night Police had cleared Ni Su's name long ago, it still could not stop some deliberate slander. There was even a rumor that Ni Su was able to get out of the Night Police safely because of her connection with Zhou Ting, the deputy lieutenant of the Night Police.
It was not difficult for Ni Su to guess the purpose of the person behind the scenes.
She simply wanted to force Zhou Ting to stay away from her, and it would be best to withdraw the people guarding outside her clinic, so that it would be easier to attack her.
Cai Chunxu wanted to say a lot of comforting words, but when the words came to her lips, she looked at Ni Su's increasingly thin face and only said softly: "Sister Xi, don't be sad..."
Hearing this, Ni Su smiled at Cai Chunxu, shook her head and said, "I'm not sad, Sister Cai. I've been waiting for a day like this. Wu Jikang pleads guilty, and he will have to pay the price."
"No matter what, I will wait here. I will wait and see him repay my brother's life with his own life."
Ni Su can't forget,
She could not forget how she took her brother's body out of the night watchtower that day, and she could not forget how Zhou Ting told her that her brother had starved to death.
She couldn't help but think how painful it must have been when her brother died.
Just thinking about this,
Ni Su would kneel before the incense table and look at the tablets of her mother and brother all night long.
"I hope the government will issue an order as soon as possible to chop that bastard off!"
Cai Chunxu thought of what her husband had just said. Wu Jikang had entered the Night Palace and was laughing wildly without any fear. She couldn't help but curse him angrily.
Leaving the Taiwei Mansion, Ni Su walked briskly. The bright sunshine spread all over the ground. She saw a white shadow on the ground, which had been by her side from beginning to end.
Back at Nanhuai Street, Ni Su saw a few children gathered in front of her clinic and playing with pebbles. As soon as she approached, they scattered like birds and beasts.
Many people around her looked at her and whispered to each other all the time, but she did not look away and took out the key from her sleeve to open the door.
The child hiding under the awning opposite rolled his eyes, then grinned and threw the stone in his hand out with force.
The bright white light condensed like mist and instantly transformed into the tall figure of a young man. He raised his hand, and the stone that was about to hit Ni Su's back turned.
The child couldn't see him, but was hit hard on the forehead by the flying stone.
With a "wow" sound, the child covered his head and burst into tears.
Ni Su was startled and looked back. The child who was crying breathlessly under the curtain ran away like a frightened bird.
"Did he see you?" Ni Su was puzzled and looked at the people around her.
Xu Hexue just shook his head but didn't say anything.
The sky gradually darkened. Ni Su lit many lanterns under the eaves, illuminating the entire yard. When Xu Hexue raised his eyes in the room, he could see the window screen illuminated by the bright light.
Separated by a wall, Xu Hexue couldn't hear any movement in her room. Maybe she had already fallen asleep. Would she sleep better tonight than usual?
She has waited for so long, and her brother's case has finally seen some light at the end of the tunnel. Has the heavy stone that has been weighing on her heart finally been put down?
Xu Hexue sat at the desk, looking at the window screen, then suddenly lowered his eyes and looked at the account book on the desk.
"Xu Ziling."
Suddenly, he heard the sound of the door opening next door, followed by her footsteps. Almost at the moment he heard her call, Xu Hexue raised his eyes and saw her shadow.
"I can't sleep."
Ni Su stood outside his door. "Can I go in for a while?"
"Come in."
Xu Hexue said softly.
When Ni Su heard him say this, she immediately pushed the door open. The room was brightly lit. He sat upright in the light and shadow, looking at her.
“You’re still watching this.”
Ni Su discovered the account book next to him.
"Um."
"So what do you see?"
Ni Su sat down next to him.
"Most of Du Sancai's money flows here..." Xu Hexue's slender fingers stopped at a place in the account book, but she suddenly came very close to him, and a strand of long hair even brushed the back of his hand. He curled his knuckles for a moment and suddenly stopped.
"Man Yu Bank."
Ni Su read out those four words.
Xu Hexue withdrew his hand and said "hmm".
"Then should we go to Manyu Bank to have a look?" Ni Su supported her chin with one hand.
"No need. I want to give this account book to someone."
Xu Hexue looked at her profile.
"who?"
Ni Su's gaze moved from the account book to his face.
"Chief Censor Jiang Xianming."
In the past few days, Xu Hexue has thought carefully. Although this account book records most of Du Sancai's financial transactions, there are very few names on it, and most of them are even filled with "A, B, C, and D". Xu Hexue himself has been away from the world for many years and cannot really figure out who these A, B, C, and D are. But if this account book falls into the hands of Jiang Xianming, that person is absolutely capable of checking out these old accounts of Du Sancai.
"But how can you be sure that he will check?"
Ni Su asked.
"He will."
Xu Hexue's eyelashes cast a faint shadow under her eyelids.
Why did Du Sancai escape the crime of delaying military affairs back then? Why did he continue to give money to these anonymous people for 15 years? As long as Jiang Xianming was willing to investigate, he would definitely find clues.
"Then we might as well go now."
Ni Su suddenly stood up.
Xu Hexue raised his eyes and met her gaze.
It was a dark and windy night, which was indeed a good time. Ni Su wrapped herself in a cloak, hugged Xu Hexue's waist, and watched the night of Yunjing City so directly for the first time.
Even without using his ghostly magic, he could still use his excellent martial arts to avoid the officials of the Night Watch Department outside, and take her out quietly on the eaves at night.
The night wind blew his soft hair and gently brushed Ni Su's cheek. His embrace was as cold as ice. Ni Su looked up at his chin , not daring to look under the eaves at all.
There was a tall locust tree in the Jiang residence with lush branches and leaves. They perched on the eaves and their bodies were mostly hidden by the thick shade.
Jiang Xianming sat in the study for a long time. The clerk came in and offered him tea several times, and then carefully advised: "Sir, it's late at night, you should rest."
"How can I take a rest when the memorial is not finished yet?" Jiang Xianming scratched the itchy back of his head with a hairpin and sighed deeply.
"Sir, you usually finish your work in one stroke. Why are you having trouble this time?"
I know inside that there is something strange in my heart.
"It's not that I'm in trouble. There are many people in the court who have benefited from Grand Tutor Wu. If the emperor lets them discuss and sentence them, they will sentence them lightly. How can I do this? I have to write this memorial carefully to prevent the emperor from being deceived by their words."
Jiang Xianming thought of what happened in the morning today and his face became a little gloomy.
Feeling a little uncomfortable in his lower back, he drank a sip of tea and simply stood up, planning to go outside to get some fresh air.
As soon as the door of the study opened, Ni Su, who was on the eaves, saw it. She pulled Xu Hexue's sleeve and whispered, "He's out."
Two people came out of the study, one was slightly bent over, and the other stood straight, stretching his waist under the eaves. Ni Su guessed who was Censor Jiang at a glance.
"You can't see clearly, I'll do it."
As Ni Su spoke, she pulled the account book out of Xu Hexue's hand. Seeing that Censor Jiang did not move in the porch, she threw the account book with all her strength.
Xu Hexue held a lamp in his hand, but the dim light did not allow him to see clearly what was happening below. He only heard the girl beside him suddenly gasp, so he asked, "What happened?"
"…I hit Censor Jiang on the head."
Ni Su was embarrassed.
"Who is it! Someone come! Someone come quickly!"
Sure enough, there was an old man's voice below, and Ni Su looked and saw that it was the inner knowledge who was bending over. She crouched and saw Censor Jiang bending over to pick up the account book, so she urged Xu Hexue: "Hurry up, let's go!"
The guards below could not see the light of the lantern held by Xu Hexue, and they had no idea that there was someone hiding on the eaves. Xu Hexue put his arms around Ni Su's waist, jumped up from the tree trunk, and flew up.
The two of them landed lightly in the back alley. Xu Hexue heard Ni Su sneeze, so he took off his cloak and put it on her.
The heavy cloak was a burnt winter coat and did not make her feel very warm, but Ni Su still pulled it tightly together. When she saw the word "Zi Ling" on the cuff, she looked up and their eyes met inadvertently.
They both looked away almost at the same time.
There was a faint aura all around Xu Hexue, which made his figure look even more dreamy, as if if the wind blew harder that night, his figure would fade away like mist.
But as Ni Su watched him, she suddenly wanted him to be more real, at least not so gloomy and indifferent, as if he would disappear at any time.
After exiting the narrow alley, Ni Su looked around. After so many autumn rains, the weather seemed to have become colder. The heat from the food stalls was much more obvious, and she smelled a very sweet smell.
Seeing her walking quickly forward, Xu Hexue followed her closely and saw her stop in front of a food stall where golden glutinous rice cakes were being fried in the oil pan.
She was talking to the owner of the food stall, and Xu Hexue was watching her from the side.
He didn't pay attention to what she said. He just thought that the green gauze lanterns on the stall made her eyes and eyebrows look very beautiful.
He suddenly realized,
My own silent gaze seemed to be an offense.
Xu Hexue hastily looked away, but heard the girl next to him suddenly say, "Can I buy you a lantern?"
"Okay."
Seeing that she was alone and didn't have a lantern, the stall owner nodded with a smile.
Ni Su took a bag of fried glutinous rice cakes and the rattan green gauze lantern and walked into the deserted alley. Then she squatted down and took out a fire starter from her arms.
"I've always carried this with me since I met you."
Ni Su said as she handed him the glutinous rice cake wrapped in oil paper, "Help me hold it first."
Xu Hexue took it. The fried glutinous rice cake was just out of the pan and was still very hot even though it was wrapped in oil paper. He lowered his eyes and watched her puff up her cheeks to blow out the candle in the green gauze lantern, and then re-light it with a fire starter.
The firelight flickered and then brightened, illuminating the profile of her face, soft and clean.
Ni Su stood up and reached out to him.
Xu Hexue handed her the glutinous rice cake, but she said, "Lantern."
He was stunned for a moment, and immediately gave her the lamp in his hand.
Ni Su took the lantern and handed him the green gauze lantern she had just bought, saying, "This one looks like it was made by the stall owner himself. Do you think it looks good?"
Xu Hexue held the lamp stick, and the candlelight was wrapped in green gauze, showing a clearer light, reflected in his eyes, but his sight slowly fell on the ground and he saw her shadow.
After a while, he nodded: "It looks good."
"As long as you like it."
Ni Su looked at him. His face was pale and fragile and he almost never smiled. But she couldn't help but wonder, if he was still alive and had a body of flesh and blood like her, how would he smile?
At least those eyes would be curved, and would definitely be clearer than they are now, more like glass beads condensing brilliance.
That would be great.
"Xu Ziling."
The two lanterns finally made his figure less faint. Ni Su didn't look at him again, but just walked forward. She couldn't help but call him again.
"Um?"
Xu Hexue's gaze moved from the green gauze lantern to her face.
"My brother died here, so I don't like Yunjing at all. I thought before that as long as I get justice for my brother and help you find your old friends, I will leave here and never come back to this place again."
"What do you think of this place? Are you more happy or regretful?"
Ni Su still couldn't help but be curious about his past.
"I……"
Because of her words, Xu Hexue carefully examined his past, those fragmentary pasts that he could still remember.
He actually had a great time here. He was free and happy. His classmates at that time could still interact with him without any scruples. They even picked dates from the teacher's yard together.
He kicked his friend, who was crying , as if it was just yesterday.
But she asked, are there more joys or regrets?
"When I leave here, all the past joy will become regrets."
He finally gave an answer.
"But you don't regret it, right?" Ni Su asked him.
Xu Hexue was stared at by her, and he nodded gently: "Yes."
The word "regret" cannot make up for all the regrets that have happened, whether in the past or now, he is not willing to use these two words to annotate his short life.
Even if he saw his teacher in his dream, he was unwilling to say these two words.
That's not respecting yourself enough.
They also cannot respect their teachers.
"Although I don't know more about you," Ni Su thought for a moment and continued, "But I think that if I were you, I would not regret the decision I have made."
It was as if she had never regretted anything along the way.
"My business seems to be over. As long as Wu Jikang dies, I can comfort my brother's soul." This was the most relaxing day for Ni Su since she came to Yunjing. She smiled at him, "But I will still be here until you find your purpose of coming back to the world of the living. I am the one who invited you back, and I also want you to come back with fewer regrets this time."
The words "I'm the one who called you back" almost made Xu Hexue lose his mind.
In the quiet and narrow alley, you can faintly hear the sound of music coming from the tile house in the distance.
He actually had no regrets. He should have forgotten many things from his life. If he had not returned to the world of the living, he should have forgotten them even more completely. It was just that the souls in the Pagoda in Youdu could not forget those hatreds and resentments.
They can't let go.
So he couldn't let it go.
"Xu Ziling, the pipa in the tile house sounds really beautiful. When these things are over, shall we go to the tile house and take a look together?"
Ni Su's voice brought him back to his senses.
He stood side by side with her, the bright white light and her dark shadow intertwined together, and his ink-black sleeves could temporarily pass for a shadow that was the same as hers.
After a while, he said in a hoarse voice: "Okay."
